Every Day We Fight News

Doubling back, it's a viable strategy

Hello, Thorns! LP again, here to talk about exploration in Every Day We Fight. This time around, we will focus on the rare blue mineral encrustations called Elixium.

[h2]The Elixium Dart Gun[/h2][hr][/hr]Acquiring some Rifter hardware will unlock the ability to destroy Elixium. This small hand-held gun is your answer to all Elixium barriers to entry, opening previously inaccessible areas.

"It comes right off!"

[h2]Exploration made simple[/h2][hr][/hr]After a little exploring and destroying Elixium, you'll likely find yourself exploring the world to discover as many points of interest as possible. The Thorns are an efficient team, capable of finding their way past any obstacle in the search for valuable loot. Most doors will be open to you, but some areas will contain locked doors. Finding an angle to shoot off the locks will open new areas. Additionally, backtracking through these homes means you'll come across a ton of shiny little drops, and just about every single one of these will net you experience points for your Thorns, save for the scrap piles.

"Welcome on in, make yourself at home"

[h2]Heating up for trouble[/h2][hr][/hr]Not everyone takes kindly to exploration, especially not stray Rifters. When you're out in the world, snooping around, you'll likely encounter Rifters patrolling the streets. Have you recently annoyed one too many Rifters? If so, you may end up increasing your heat level, increasing the concentration of enemy units, and their potency. Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew! These fights can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how prepared you are. There's a ton of loot and experience in it for you if you're feeling the urge to grind!

"Is it me or is it getting hot in here?"

If you enjoy these dev diaries and would like to see other topics covered in future ones, feel free to drop a comment. We'll be back to talk about some REALLY COOL news on May 6th.

Overcoming new challenges

Hey there, Thorns! I'm LP, and I'm new to the team behind Every Day We Fight. The team thought it could be interesting to share my take on how the gameplay feels for newcomers.

[h2]"Scramble!"[/h2][hr][/hr]Combat kicks off with Rifters engaging my squad, and I'm immediately given a tactical choice. I need to scramble to safety to avoid losing a unit. I've not played many tactics games that allow for reactive gameplay, but my hundreds of hours of experience in other turn-based games kicked in to put me through the motions. That quickly shifted as I was required to zoom in, aim, and shoot Rifters to survive. Wild, I was not expecting an experience resembling an FPS game. As I'm processing all the possibilities, I notice I can explode objects. Which begs the question, what can't I shoot?

"A tactical retreat to be sure, I'm not running away or anything."

[h2]"Explosions! I've got to make more explosions!"[/h2][hr][/hr]On my way down a nearby broken bridge, I noticed a few explosive barrels nestled in some trucks and cars. Shooting my surroundings to get places wasn't originally on my bucket list, but now I find myself looking to make as much noise as possible in the open world. Many gamers will probably ask the same question, is there friendly fire? Short answer, yes. It even goes both ways as I discovered when 2 Rifters shot each other while tracking my scrambling Thorns. Shooting a conveniently placed barrel allowed me to parkour across a bus and make it over the bridge as I continued on.

"Don't miss, don't miss, don't miss..."

[h2]Frozen in Time[/h2][hr][/hr]All along the broken bridge, I saw these ghost like people just standing there. The frozen people, is what I'll call them for now, give me the chills every time I come across them, as if they're bound to come to life at a moment's notice. There's an eerie stillness in the world and I came across several. I wondered what exactly transpired before this freeze frame in history. Luckily the world's full of little lore tidbit you can peer into to glean more info. As I hopped from one story to another, I naturally found myself surrounded by more Rifters, maybe they're related, I guess I'll find out after playing more.

"What if we're actually the ones frozen and they're the ones looking at us? Woah."

[h2]Skilling Made Easy[/h2][hr][/hr]As I progressed through the open world, I defeated enough Rifters and my Thorns managed to level up, opening a whole new world of possibilities! The branching skill builds offer some interesting choices, and each point invested leans into the build you're going for even more. I could already envision early on what I wanted each Thorn's final form to be in my head, but I frequently reiterated my decisions. The farther along you get in the city, the more enemy types you encounter, naturally your strategy needs to be adapted.

"Phew, no spreadsheet required."

I hope you enjoyed this Dev Diary and my first impressions. I'm looking forward to diving deeper into some of the Rifters the Thorns will face off against in our next Dev Diary on April 8th.

Upgrade Your Arsenal for Tactical Supremacy

Last time, we explored skill customization—now, let’s talk weapons. Thorn firearms can be modified with a range of attachments, adjusting their properties for more precision, firepower, or utility. Rarer components introduce alternate fire modes that apply status effects, while epic mods unlock powerful abilities triggered by specific combat actions.

Alongside scavenging, the Workbench allows you to craft discovered parts, expanding your tactical options as you progress.

[h2]Common Parts: Passive Upgrades for Reliable Damage[/h2][hr][/hr]On a recent run, I scraped together enough salvage to craft a single Common weapon part early on. When I reached a crafting bench, I had a choice: upgrade the optic on Vivian’s Longshot rifle or equip a new magazine. I went with the magazine—more shots before reloading meant I could take riskier, aggressive positions, maximizing damage by consistently hitting weak points.

Common parts provide passive stat boosts, making weapons more efficient and reliable.

[h2]Rare Parts: Alternate Fire Modes and Status Effects[/h2][hr][/hr]Further into the city, I came across a Rare Muzzle attachment capable of Immobilizing Rifters. I paired it with my Ratler shotgun to handle Strikers—the teleporting melee units that can easily breach backlines. Since they need a full turn before striking, stopping them in place was an effective way to neutralize the threat without burning excessive AP on a kill.

Rare parts add powerful secondary effects, opening up new tactical options.

[h2]Rifter Weapons: One-Time Use, Devastating Impact[/h2][hr][/hr]Rifters don’t just drop salvage—they also leave behind their formidable weapons. These firearms pack serious stopping power but come with a major drawback: they can’t be reloaded. Once the magazine is empty, they’re gone.

Turning Sentinel weapons against them is one of my favorite tactics. Their accuracy and sheer force make headshots the best choice—though to maximize their potential, you’ll need to strip away the enemy’s rechargeable shields first.

[h2]Experiment, Adapt, and Overcome[/h2][hr][/hr]Every run demands different tactics, and the gear you discover will shape how you fight. You can always respec your skill tree to capitalize on your loadout, but some of our QA testers have already come up with creative, unexpected solutions that we hadn’t anticipated.

We’ll be diving deeper into gameplay strategies in the next Dev Diary on March 11, and you can catch us live at Quebec DemoNights on February 20. Looking forward to seeing what strategies you come up with!

Every Day We Fight is a game about combat and tactics; each Thorn has a skill tree that allows them to specialize in a variety of ways. Finding the right combination of skills and weapons can greatly increase the Thorns combat effectiveness. Here are some of the dev team's favorite pairings.

[h2]Vivienne: Deceptive and Deadly[/h2]
Progressing in Vivienne’s skill tree to the Virtual Motivation node grants bonus Action Points for each enemy that targets the Hologram. This skill has some interesting potential synergies, including equipping Vivienne with a sniper rifle. Typically, this weapon is quite expensive to fire and reload, but by focusing on the Action Point economy, Vivienne can overcome this and fire multiple rounds per turn from a safe range.

Vivienne’s Active Ability is the Hologram, a deployable decoy that can be used to distract enemies.

Vivienne’s Hologram can also be upgraded to leave a fire surface when it's defeated. An effective trap against melee enemies.

[h2]Dylan: Up Close and Personal[/h2]
Dylan will receive a prompt to use his Proximity Punch when enemies approach him. This allows him to walk up to an enemy and knock them out - disabling them for one turn. This is a powerful skill, but it leaves Dylan in an exposed position. Choosing when to use it can be tricky, but by selecting the Dust in the Wind upgrade, you can deploy a smokescreen to reduce the accuracy of enemy units' ranged attacks - greatly enhancing Dylan’s survivability at close range. Equipping him with a shotgun allows him to leave the smoke with a bang, dispatching enemies within a short range.

Ending your turn near enemies or choke points can lead to opportunities to use Dylan’s Reflex Ability - Proximity Punch.

Proximity Punch can be upgraded to restore health to allies to specialize Dylan into a support role.

[h2]Leo: Fire Superiority Expert[/h2]
Covering Fire is effective at suppressing enemies which can reduce the Action Points they can use on their turn. By investing in Dead Arm in the skill tree, we can apply the Paralyzed Arm status effect to any unit hit while using Covering Fire. This can be very effective at shutting down tanker armored units, but by equipping Leo with an Assault Rifle, we can use Covering Fire to spray bullets in the direction of a group of enemies, stopping them from using their weapons on their turn. Finding a rare weapon muzzle can enhance this further, decreasing the weapon bloom while Leo is firing in full-auto, greatly enhancing his accuracy.

Leo’s Reflex Ability is Covering Fire, allowing him to come to the defense of allies under fire by returning fire on enemy units.

Covering Fire can be specialized to ignite enemies on fire and have them take burn damage for multiple rounds.

Choosing which weapon to use with each Thorn is part of the tactical decision-making, which empowers you to customize your squad to overcome the Rifters. These enemy units pose various challenges for you to solve, each with strengths and weaknesses. Luckily, there are more than just skills and guns in your arsenal for you to customize. You can expect the next dev diary February 11th - we’ll dive into weapon customization, consumable items, and how to use the Rifter’s weapons against them.

Every Day We Fight throws you into the chaos with the Thorns, a resistance fighting to break free from a relentless time loop. Each failure is a lesson, each run a chance to adapt, and every moment teeters between survival and the thrill of discovery.

[h2]Starting Strong: Loadouts and Progression[/h2]
Your base is more than a starting point. Every loadout it hands you feels like a dish from a chaotic master chef: unexpected combinations that somehow work — or don’t. One moment, you’re armed to the teeth with your favorites. The next, you’re looking at a mismatched arsenal and thinking, “Well, this should be interesting.

• Each loadout pulls from items you’ve unlocked in previous runs, ensuring your progress always means something.
  
• XP carries over, letting the Thorns grow stronger with each attempt to break the loop.
  

Every run starts out with a new arsenal of weapons and attachments. The common ones improve the weapon stats, while the epic attachments provide new abilities for you to master.

[h2]The City Awaits: Exploration and Choices[/h2]
Stepping out of your base is stepping into the unknown. The city sprawls before you, full of branching paths, hidden dangers, and opportunities waiting to be seized—or avoided. Every street corner asks: “Are you ready to risk it?”

• Will you charge ahead to your mission, conserving resources for the bigger fights, or take a detour for the chance at rare upgrades?
  
• The rewards are tempting, but danger doesn’t sit idly. The shadows often hide the toughest enemies.
  

Venturing off the beaten path leads to opportunities to discover new weapons and mods to expand your arsenal.

[h2]Rifters and Rising Tension[/h2]
The Rifters don’t just sit back and wait—they’re out there, setting traps, holding ground, and daring you to take them on. They’re the heartbeat of the city, and each encounter raises the stakes.

• Facing Rifters can net you loot, but it also boosts your Heat level, making every future fight even more dangerous.
  
• No two encounters play out the same; the city shifts, adapts, and keeps you guessing.
  

The Rifters don’t just challenge you—they force you to ask yourself, “Am I ready to take this risk?” Sometimes the answer is yes. Other times...well, you’ll learn fast.

[h2]Major Objectives: Big Fights, Bigger Rewards[/h2]
These aren’t just battles; they’re tests of everything you’ve learned so far. Big enemies, tougher decisions, and rewards worth every bit of the sweat and strategy you put in.

• Success earns keys and supplies for powerful upgrades at Thorn Stashes.
  
• Optional challenges add layers of risk and potential rewards, enticing resourceful players.
  

Every fight at this scale is a gamble. Blow through your supplies now or hold out for a safehouse? The choice is yours, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

[h2]Safehouses: A Strategic Lifeline[/h2]
Finding a safehouse isn’t just about catching your breath; it’s where decisions start to feel heavier. This is your moment to regroup, rethink, and plan for what’s next.

• Use keys for upgrades now, or save them for future encounters that might demand even more from you.
  
• Adjust your strategy as resources dwindle and risks mount.
  
• Safehouses give you a chance, but they don’t promise survival—you’ve still got work to do.
  

Safehouses make you pause, not relax. Every decision here will echo through the rest of your run, shaping whether you make it out alive or start over.

[h2]Building Momentum and Progression[/h2]
Momentum keeps the loop from feeling endless. Every step forward is a small rebellion against the cycle, making you sharper, tougher, and ready for whatever comes next.

• Gain experience, unlock better gear, and gather supplies to strengthen the Thorns with every run.
  
• Even defeats carry progress, ensuring no effort is wasted.
  

Every loss teaches you something. Every win builds on that knowledge. You’re not just playing the game—you’re mastering it.

[h2]What’s Next?[/h2]
In the next dev diary, we’ll dig into the combat mechanics and introduce you to the Thorns—the characters who carry this fight on their shoulders. Their stories, their abilities, their grit—it’s all coming soon.

We want to hear from you! What’s your approach to exploration in roguelites? Share your thoughts, strategies, and ideas in the forums or connect with us on social media. And if you haven’t yet, wishlist Every Day We Fight—your support drives everything we do.